I just met the builder of Muleskinner mandolins. Anyone owning or having played one of these care to offer their impressions?
I just met the builder of Muleskinner mandolins. Anyone owning or having played one of these care to offer their impressions?
Big Muddy EM8 solid body (Mike Dulak's final EM8 build)
Kentucky KM-950
Weber Gallatin A Mandola "D hole"
Rogue 100A (current campfire tool & emergency canoe paddle)
Played 5 examples yesterday. Nice balanced tone and excellent playability. Wishing I had my Collings with me for comparison. A Stiver and Ken Ratcliff would make the comparison better as I develop my short list.
Better yet, I win one in a raffle I entered!
Big Muddy EM8 solid body (Mike Dulak's final EM8 build)
Kentucky KM-950
Weber Gallatin A Mandola "D hole"
Rogue 100A (current campfire tool & emergency canoe paddle)
Yup, I too entered the raffle for the mandolin at the Green Mountain Bluegrass and Roots festival. And DIDN'T win. Outrageous. I'd love to have heard the instrument more- the other models all sounded pretty good and the sycamore backs looked great.
1999 Buckeye #18 (Bucky)
198x Flatiron pancake mandola (no name)
2020 Kentucky 252 oval hole (Aurum)
The sycamore back mandolin he had on display was my pick of the bunch. All his Mandos are A styles of which I am partial to.
Big Muddy EM8 solid body (Mike Dulak's final EM8 build)
Kentucky KM-950
Weber Gallatin A Mandola "D hole"
Rogue 100A (current campfire tool & emergency canoe paddle)
Hey all, Brian here. I am a good friend and bandmate of Andy and he has built me a slightly smaller scaled dread style guitar. The guitar he built for me is unlike anything I have ever played. Its perfectly balanced, cuts when needs, but is also a hell of a good strummer.
But we ain't here to talk guitars I guess. The sycamore mandolin is something I had lusted over since I first saw the tone wood before it had any shape resembling any sort of instrument.
I have been lucky enough to play (probably) all of the mandolins coming out of Andy's shop. He has a deep knowledge and vast appreciation of tonewoods and what he is going after tonewise in using a combo of addy and maple vs birch vs walnut. That being said, he is also totally unafraid to experiment and see how things come out which has lead to some pretty amazing outcomes in terms of tone (see: that sycamore beauty!).
His oval holes are sweet, full and ring like a bell, the f-holed a styles with walnut have been really full and with a lot of punch and his spruce/maple mandolins have been a bluegrass dream.
He is currently building me a guitar bodied octave as well. I cannot wait to see how that turns out!
One of the finest luthiers out there and I am sure that they will be up there with some of the current "top of the heap" builders once more of these get out into the world.
Also, if you go to Andy's website you can see recent stuff from the shop and instruments that have sold and are for sale currently...
https://www.muleskinnerinstruments.com/
And also video (and sound) clips of instruments on his Youtube page
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzB...orFLA09zIk4P5Q
Just for folks' information. Andy has donated another mandolin to a raffle. 10 dollars a ticket. Its for an oval hole birch mandolin...I believe he had this mandolin last year at Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots.
Link below:
https://www.chandler-arts.org/raffle
One of Andy's mandolins just popped up in the classifieds. Another mando picker from Vermont is the current owner. Black top, with a nice looking tobacco stain on the maple back and sides.
https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/155405#155405
That black top and an absolutely gorgeous American Sycamore mandolin (mentioned above) are listed for sale on Andy's site.
NFI, but I just love looking at these creations...even if I won't be buying!
https://muleskinnerinstruments.com/?page_id=120
The blacktop is also listed in the classifieds: https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/156111#156111
1924 Gibson A Snakehead
2005 National RM-1
2007 Hester A5
2009 Passernig A5
2015 Black A2-z
2010 Black GBOM
2017 Poe Scout
2014 Smart F-Style Mandola
2018 Vessel TM5
2019 Hogan F5
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